Fatima H, 2026. Dietary vitamin c ımproves growth performance and stress resistance in broiler chickens. Trends in Animal and Plant Sciences 7: 31-37. https://doi.org/10.62324/TAPS/2026.005

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This experiment evaluated the effects of dietary vitamin C supplementation on growth performance and stress resistance in Cobb 500 broiler chickens over a 4-week trial. One-day-old chicks were randomly selected and divided into four treatments, with 3 replicates of 20 birds per diet: T1 (control, no added vitamin C), T2 (250 mg/kg), T3 (500 mg/kg), and T4 (750 mg/kg). The chickens were raised under normal management conditions, with ad libitum access to feed and water. They were evaluated in terms of growth performance (body weight, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio), stress response (serum corticosterone), hematological (Hb, PCV, RBC, WBC), serum biochemical (total protein, albumin, globulin, glucose, cholesterol), antioxidant (SOD, CAT, MDA), and humoral immunity (IgG). The weight gain and the levels of feed efficiency were most significantly enhanced with the use of vitamin C supplementation (P<0.05), and T3 displayed the best performance. Vitamin C groups showed a decreased serum corticosterone and an improvement in the hematological indices and serum protein fractions. Vitamin C also improved antioxidant defense by increasing the levels of SOD and CAT and reducing the levels of MDA. In addition, it was found that the concentration of IgG was higher in supplemented birds, indicating a better immune competence. The study suggested that 500 mg/kg vitamin C in the diet may improve growth, physiological condition, antioxidant ability, and stress resistance in broilers.